Astound
by Lionus
Summary: She's always kept him on his toes and just when he believes he has everything figured out, she yanks the floor out from under him. Metalicana should have known from the second they were married she would never allow him such a luxury- not that he's complaining.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Fairy Tail or the OC, she belongs to SilverInklett.

* * *

It was pouring, there wasn't a dry spot anywhere on his clothes, and he was extremely late for dinner. Voeda was going to have his ass on a silver platter while telling Igneel and Grandine every stupid thing he had ever done or said to her just for added humiliation to last him in the afterlife.

The sky lit up and the street lights fizzled out. The thunder played a nice bass tone for the impending doom he was about to walk into.

Metalicana fumbled with his keys and eased the door open, cursing his luck even more when he noticed they had already lost power and Vo had lit every candle they owned around the downstairs.

Next time, he would make sure all of her candles were the same scent. Or invest in an oil lamp. Something that would rid his nasal passages of the lethal dose of cinnamon and vanilla and apple and linen and whatever other hellish scent Yankee Candle had come out with that they owned.

He toed his boots off and hung his soaking coat up on its peg, grabbing a dish towel left crumpled up on the shelf to run over his hair. He hated the rain.

At least, he hated it when he got caught in it.

The only compensation that he got was picturing the sour expression on Igneel's face. Anything below 70 and hiding the sun pissed the weirdo off more than anything. He was the only man Metalicana knew that would use his fireplace in the middle of the humid, rainy Spring.

Granny was probably standing on her front porch, breathing in the chilly air and holding her hand out from under the porch roof to catch the raindrops in her hand.

One of them deserved to have a nice evening.

Igneel would be grouchy, Grandine was at peace, and he was about to be roasted on a spit by his wife. So, it wasn't anything out of the ordinary really.

"Vo?"

Metalicana crept into the kitchen, slipping in his wet socks and barely catching himself on a counter. He yanked the traitorous fabric from his feet, wadded them up, ad tossed them in the general direction of his boots.

"Are you all right?"

"_Tch_, barely."

He heard her get up, she had probably been curled up under the blanket her mom made them when they got married and reading a book by her favorite candle's light. Coming in at a time she was relaxed was a good sign for him. If she was able to sit down and focus on a book, then he wasn't as far up the creek as he'd feared.

"Sorry 'm late. Roads and traffic were hell and y'know how Igneel can go on and on too. Seemed all too thrilled to keep me as long as he could to make me even later and in more trouble."

"Trouble? You make me sound like a dragon lady." She appeared from around the corner and winked at him. She rested against the door frame to the living room with a smile on her face. "The storm started earlier than they had said, so I wasn't expecting much."

Metalicana chuckled as he pulled his shirt over his head. "Took ya this long to realize you needed to lower yer standards with me? I figured you were sharper 'n that, Vo."

She raised her brows and slapped his arm as she passed him. "I expect you to clean up the mud and water you just tracked though my kitchen. We have a mud room for a reason."

He rolled his eyes and caught her hand, pulling her back to him. "Mud room's freezing and I didn't want to make ya wait any longer if you were ticked off for me bein' late."

Voeda scoffed, "How considerate."

He smirked. "Always."

She wriggled from his hold, heading toward their laundry room and opening the dryer. Voeda came back with a few towels and a set clothes that still held some warmth from the dryer for him to change into. "Well, you might as well stay in here while we get you dry. Hardwood's a bit easier to mop up than waiting for the carpet to dry."

"We?" He raised an eyebrow at her and undid the belt on his pants. She ignored his comment and waited for him to finish muttering curses at the waterlogged denim stuck to his legs.

Metalicana slipped minutely in the small puddle of water accumulating at his feet and a curse tore from his throat as his wife's arms shot toward his shoulders. She barely managed to steady him before they both went tumbling.

"Charming, Redfox."

He snatched the dry pair of pants from her and growled under his breath. They didn't say anything more as he finished dressing. He rolled up his wet clothes and the damp towels, taking them back to the laundry room and tossing them in the washer for when their power came back on.

Metalicana winced as he ran his fingers through the tangles in his hair. "So why's it this time I'm not in hot water?"

"Honestly, people will start to wonder if I treat you right if you keep making those jokes." She rolled her eyes and lowered her tone, but didn't pull away when her husband pulled her into his chest.

"Nah." He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and snorted when she startled at the cold fingers on her cheek. "I do somethin' right this time?"

She sighed and shook her head. "We'll start it at you did do something."

Metalicana groaned and hung his head on her shoulder. "I gotta guess?"

"It would take years for you to get this one."

He lifted his head and narrowed his eyes at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Voeda crinkled her nose and she reached up to run her fingers over the piercings in his ear as the other came up to settle on his cheek. She kissed him and smiled. She laughed as he watched her suspiciously. "You're not in trouble, I promise. I'm not tricking you."

"All right. Well, how 'bout puttin' me outta my misery?"

"Oh, your sentence's just begun."

Metalicana plunked his forehead to hers. "Vo."

She laughed, the movement brushing her nose over his. "We're going to have a baby."

He startled, visibly. The shock shook his knees and he blinked several times. Her eyes didn't waver and her smile only stretched when his mouth failed to form the words. She had been right, he wouldn't have guessed that in a million years. Mostly because it hadn't been an option, from what they'd been told.

"Yer sure?"

She bit her lip. "Well, I don't know, it could be Igneel's. Though, I'm pretty sure it's yours."

"Not even funny," he growled.

Voeda leaned back, grinning like the cat that ate the canary. "Speaking of which, it was terrible trying to keep him quiet."

Metalicana spluttered. "He knew before I did?"

"Well, you know he doesn't knock and he just happened to barge in when I was at Grandine's and we were discussing it." She glanced down, her gaze following the lingering water prints from his feet.

"Really?" He tucked his fingers under her chin, beckoning her to look back at him.

She nodded her head and hummed. He grinned back, still smiling as he brought her mouth back to his.

It was still pouring, he was dry, and he was going to kick Igneel's ass for finding out before he did.

* * *

**A/N: **SilverInklett left me a very kind shout out in her latest chapter of _Make Your Nest_ and this is my thanks to her.

I know what you're probably thinking, and believe me when I say I'm a huge skeptic when it comes to OCs as well. I've actively avoided them for the entirety that I've written and read (for, holy cow, 10 years now) fic, but Silv presented this idea for Metalicana's mate in her story _Make Your Nest and Lay In It_ and I was a goner from the get go. She's gotten under my skin and demanded all of my love- Voeda might as well be a canon character for me now.

Of course, this is a human!AU where Metalicana and Voeda are Gajeel's biological parents.

Do not leave any negative or backhanded comments on this character. She may not be mine, but I'm very protective of her and the work that Silv has put into making Voeda a believable facet in the FT universe.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Fairy Tail or Voeda.

* * *

He swore harshly when the unblemished wood frames fell from his hold and smashed his toes _again_. This would be the first and last time he bought and assembled a crib if he had anything to do with it- which was 50% of the equation, so he had a good chance of ensuring he wouldn't get dragged through the process all over again. The dark and shining color of the crib pieces openly mocked him, no doubt the soft gray walls were having their own laugh as well at the struggle he endured for a brat not yet born. A problem that fit into the curve of his palm where his wife's belly had just begun to swell, and yet, already working on giving him gray hairs.

His old man had always said if Metalicana found a woman willing to carry his spawn he'd finally get a taste of his own medicine- just comeuppance for apparently causing all levels of hell at tender ages.

A set of nails and screws rolled between his gnashing teeth as he picked up the back slat and once more held it to the front end so he could drive in the screws to attach them. Voeda would chew his ear off for scratching the unmarred polish, but he'd get the stubborn thing assembled even if it took the next seven months of human incubation. The changing table had been rough- considering the company failed to package in the English instructions alongside the Spanish and Japanese ones- but this was a whole other level of ridiculous.

"Should I call Iggy to come help?"

Metalicana snapped his head to the doorway, narrowing his eyes on five foot seven of glowing, maternal bliss. "Hell no. He'd never let me live it down. Then, once they were here, constantly remind my kid that I couldn't even get a crib put together and how do they expect me to be a competent parent if I couldn't even get that right."

Voeda huffed and eased into the room, approaching the haphazard pieces of furniture and inspecting how far he'd gotten- which started and ended at piling the bubble wrap into one corner of the room so it'd be out of the way. He didn't doubt she was simultaneously taking in any damages, sharp and scrutinizing like an insurance agent. She brushed his hands away despite his grunt of disapproval and snatched the screwdriver from his other hand.

"I'm pregnant, not invalid." She lifted her forearm and brushed a stray, dark lock of hair out of her face. Her husband chuckled when it only fell back and she gave the offending strands a frustrated look.

"Here." Metalicana reached forward and tucked it behind her ear, securing it away from her eyes. He watched as her eyes flicked over his face, clearly not missing the way his fingers lingered at her jaw a beat longer than what was the norm. "By all means, Vo, teach me the ways of home improvement."

She tilted her head and smirked, hip-checking him to have him allow her the room she needed to show him up. _"Gladly."_

* * *

It still took him and his all-knowing wife two hours to get the crib standing and _not_ at an angle that would give the Leaning Tower a run for its money. Maneuvering the pint-sized mattress into the frame and stepping away to let her fix the blankets had been a welcome relief to his abused thumbs and toes.

He folded his arms and scoffed good-naturedly, "You realize yer gonna have to wash and change the sheets a few times before you deliver, right?"

Voeda _tsked_ at his tone and skimmed her hand over the wrinkles in the thin sheets, nodding her head in satisfaction once they were gone. "Let me nest and be content before we don't have the _luxury_ of enjoying _this_." Her hand lazy swept over the low swell of her stomach as she spoke. Voeda studied the soft shade of the sheets and hummed happily as the cream-colored sheets tied the dark wood and light gray walls together rather nicely, in her opinion. Her heart flipped as she noticed that while they tried to decorate for either a boy or a girl, it was becoming obvious that they subconsciously rooted for a boy.

She swallowed the unexpected emotion that caught in her throat, she hadn't even realized the idea _excited_ her.

Everything had just been relieved and hopeful and ecstatic that there was a baby to even decorate _for_, it wouldn't have mattered if their child was born with green hair and looked nothing like them, it would still be theirs. A girl could use soft gray walls and the same dark wood crib and cream-colored sheets just as well, and a girl would have been as equally wanted and loved and spoiled and protected, but the idea of a boy- dark hair and red eyes and tan skin and a juvenile scowl to match his father's- had a smile curling the tip of her mouth in its own way. She hardly noticed when Metalicana leaned forward on the bar of the crib, settling beside her.

He tugged at her sleeve and raised an eyebrow. "You plan on bein' difficult from here on out?"

Her grin stretched, flashing her teeth and scrunching her nose at him. "Always."

Metalicana chuckled as she echoed his own cheeky response back at him. "Yer somethin' else, Vo."

"Well, would you rather do this with any other woman, Ali?" Her eyes held the spark he knew all too well and he shook his head at the ridiculous nickname she insisted on calling him on days she particularly felt like driving him up the wall.

He stood up and kissed her cheek, waiting patiently for her to turn to face him so he could properly kiss her. His hand came up to brush her hair back from where it had fallen from around her ear again, his hand trailed down her jaw and settled at her chin. Metalicana brushed his thumb at the space just under her mouth and she smiled. Without breaking the contact, he laughed and the puff of his breath tickled her. "Obviously not."

Voeda wound her arms around his neck, running her hands through his hair. If they did have a boy, there would definitely be a limit to hair length if she had anything to say about it- which she most certainly did. When she had first met Metalicana, she had been very pro-clean cut and short hair, but in true Redfox fashion, he swept her off her feet with thick, black hair that spilled just past his shoulders and a shadow of stubble accompanied that damnable smirk of his.

A thought curled across her addled mind, there wasn't a soul she'd want to do half the things she'd done by now without anyone else. Voeda remembered the time they bought their mattress, laying on every display in the store warehouse and going back-and-forth in their second nature way- endlessly amusing the older employees and customers. Hell, buying _mouthwash_ was an event in itself for them and she _loved_ it.

She broke the kiss and winked at him. "Ditto."

* * *

**A/N: **_Domestic marrieds nesting._

Another thing for Silv, I had contemplated adding to this and then, she left me another lovely footnote in the graffiti au epilogue- which you should read and tell her what you think about it. This story will remain marked as complete since I don't know when or if it'll get further continuation. At the moment, it's merely a side project that hogs my muse when it wishes.


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